Tech For Free!

My Cloud

Written by Rebecka Anderson July 15th, 2011 No Comments

If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of “working from the clouds” or being “in the clouds” with regard to the use of technology, you may want to review my post on “Understanding the Clouds” before reading the rest of this post.

I regularly read various blogs such as Tech Crunch and Lifehacker in an effort to stay on top of new technology, and to learn from others how they are choosing to use technology. It is with this in mind that I thought it might be useful to share with you all how I’ve chosen to setup my cloud. You may not be in the same situation as I, but perhaps this might shed some light on how you could configure cloud services to best suit you. At the very least, consider the services I mention as an alternative backup plan for your data.

To understand my cloud configuration, you first need to understand my working situation (consider your own needs as you read on). I am a full-time telecommuter and I run my own technology consulting business. I use multiple computers (MacBook, iMac, iPad, iPhone, and Windows laptop) and I regularly work in a variety of locations including my home, office, coffee shops, hotels, etc. My greatest challenge in using multiple devices and working in a variety of locations is access to my files.

I started out carrying a flash drive with me, using Google Docs, emailing files to myself, and using Dropbox to share files with myself and others. As you can imagine, this quickly became problematic as I began to run into version control problems. To combat this, I mapped out a plan for myself that would allow me to access my critical files when I needed them no matter what device I was using.

My Cloud

My Email
I use Gmail to manage my email accounts (I have many and they each have their own domain names). I’ve set Gmail to drop each email account into it’s own folder, AND I can send messages using the domain name of any of my accounts. Because Gmail is web-based I can use any computer with an internet connection to access it, and I’ve configured my mobile devices to access Gmail using their native email apps.

My Documents
To share files across computers whether they were basic Word docs, or web files, I decided to use pro version of Dropbox. My data size requirements dictated that I upgrade to their 100GB plan at $20/month, but you may not need that much space.

To efficiently work across devices, I created a file structure that I would use across all devices and then I added my files from each device. Now, I only work from my DropBox folder.

What’s particularly nice about Dropbox is that the file is not only stored on Dropbox’s server, it’s also stored locally on my computer. This means no delays/pauses while working, and I can access the file on my computer without an internet connection. Once the internet connection is re-established, the files will automatically be updated online, and my other devices will received the updated file.

Document Collaboration
As much as possible, I try to use Google Docs for new documents, and it is my “go to” tool for synchronous and asynchronous document collaboration. In my opinion, it is the best tool for document collaboration, and because it’s in the cloud I can access it at anytime and with my iPhone or iPad.

My Notes
Whether I’m taking notes from a meeting or documenting how I performed some technical task I use Evernote (I save Google Docs for more formal document creation). Evernote can be accessed via their website, or through their desktop app or app for iPhone/iPad. Like Dropbox, I can work without an internet connection (when working from the apps), and once one is established, my files will be updated.

My Calendar
I have a Google Calendar account that is synched to my iCal (you may have another favorite calendar app), and I do all updating of my calendar through iCal on my computers, iPhone/iPad. I rarely visit the Google Calendar page. Like Dropbox and Evernote, I can work locally and once an internet connection is made, the update is made to the website and all of my connected devices are update.

My Photos
I import my photos from my camera into iPhoto and then add them to Flickr. In my opinion Flickr is by far the best cloud option for photo storage. For $25/yr I can upload an UNLIMITED number my photos in their ORIGINAL SIZE and organize and share them as needed.

My Videos
Video is tricky. Because video editing is so resource intensive this is a task that I do limit to one computer, but once I have edited a video, I upload the final version to my MobileMe account and/or YouTube—both include privacy settings. The final products are important, as are the original files, so I make sure those are backed up through an external hard drive connected to my computer (I use Time Machine).

System Back-up
I use CrashPlan to backup all of my computers to the CrashPlan servers. I’m on the CrashPlan+ Family Unlimited plan ($119/yr), which means I can backup as many computers as I need to, regardless of how much data I have on each computer. I setup CrashPlan to backup all of my apps, system settings, app settings, and files not otherwise placed in the clouds. And, because Dropbox keeps a local file on your computer, I can backup my Dropbox, too. While it’s unlikely that Dropbox would lose all my files, you never know when your account might be hacked, and frankly….accidents happen.

So that’s my cloud. Your needs are likely much different than mine, but hopefully you have a few new ideas about how you might be able to work remotely, and how to work more efficiently while working remotely. If not, I hope you will consider the above mentioned cloud services as alternatives to backing up data.

I Didn’t Know UStream Did That!

Written by Rebecka Anderson August 30th, 2010 No Comments

Daily I am amazed by the free services and software available on the internet, and today is no exception. We often hear “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” and today I’m happy to report that I’ve found an exception to this rule with uStream.

Ustream.tv is a FREE web-based service that allows you to broadcast and view live or recorded video. Sure there are other services like Skype that let you stream video through your web cam, but what makes Ustream unique is that your live video is available to anyone who navigates to your Ustream web page or website—no invites or special software is required! In addition to this, you can keep an archive of your past recordings.

For me the real value in Ustream is the ability to stream video from your phone! At any point in time you can fire up the uStream app (iPhone AND Droid) and start streaming video. UStream is very easy to use and you don’t need special tech skills to stream your video. In fact, within 5 minutes of creating my Ustream account, I was streaming video from my phone.

Companies and individuals are using Ustream in a variety of ways. Some of the more common uses are talk shows, broadcasts of events, and demonstrations, but there is utility in the tool beyond these categories. For example, Ustream would be a great way to share a family event such as a wedding or graduation with family members who can’t attend. Additionally, the implications for education and elearning are almost endless as I consider the ability for students to share video with their peers and instructor.

The Ustream site does more than just display the video. It also includes a chat tool, the ability to conduct polls, and offers integration with a variety of social networking sites. Integration of these tools turns your “one-way” video into a more engaging and communicative experience.

Ustream Screenshot of Live Feed: Lady Gaga at Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Rally in Maine

Another feature worth noting are the embed codes. If you want to share the live or recorded video stream (as well as chat and social streams) within another website you can. Simply copy and paste the code into your own website. If you already have a website with a friendly url, this is certainly and option worth considering.

If your web cam or smart phone video camera doesn’t produce the quality of video you were hoping for, you can choose to connect your digital video camera to your laptop. At this point you are inhibited in movement by the cords, but your picture will be improved. The same is true for sound.

If you really want to take things to the next level you might want to check out Ustream Producer (free), which allows you dig into your production and tech skills. For a fee you can also upgrade to Ustream Producer Pro ($199 one-time fee), which allows you to support multiple cameras. For more information on both products, watch the video found on this page: http://www.ustream.tv/producer

What Is Jailbreaking & How Can I Do It?

Written by admin August 10th, 2010 No Comments

Just the other day I was asked “what does it mean to jailbreak your phone?” To jailbreak your phone means you install special software on your phone that “breaks” the blocks Apple has placed on your phone. With a jailbroken phone you can install applications, other than those available through the iTunes store, AND you can use the phone with other carriers.

So how do you jailbreak your iPhone? Well, as it turns out it’s very easy (and LEGAL), but jailbreaking your phone does void the warranty. In most cases, if you have a problem you can revert to original settings, but there have been cases where that was not possible. That said, proceed with caution as there is always the possibility you could turn your phone into a nice paper weight. As with any “procedure” its always a good idea to back things up so take the time to synch your phone with iTunes before you get started.

To begin the jailbreak, launch Safari (using your iPhone) and visit http://www.jailbreakme.com, which is a free web-based service that has but one function—to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Once the page loads, slide the bar to the right to start the process. Next, wait for the software to download (a couple minutes at most). Once everything has been downloaded and installed, you will see a window indicating that Cydia has been added to your home screen–Cydia is the main source for Apple unapproved apps etc.). That’s it!

I was successful in jailbreaking my 3GS and it took only a couple minutes. I’ve turned off my phone and have restarted it a couple times and all seems well. I have noticed that on start up that I get the spinning circle on top of the apple, and I can see what appears to be a 2 pixel line of random color colors across the top of the screen, but once everything loads, the line disappears.

Good Luck!

Google Voice, it’s FREE and it’s GREAT!

Written by Rebecka Anderson July 20th, 2010 1 Comment

No matter what type of phone you have, or which carrier you use, you can take advantage of Google Voice, which is a free service that allows you to select and use one telephone number as your primary telephone number for free. Now that, in and of itself, is not especially notable, but what is notable are the FREE SERVICES that come along with the number (see feature list below). FYI, I use Google Voice and I love it. To sign-up visit https://www.google.com/voice (it’s really free–no tricks I swear).

Google Voice Features

free telephone number from any area code
if you change phones or carriers your Google number remains the same
when someone calls you can forward the call to multiple phones and even set rules based upon the time of day, or who is calling
screen calls: if a call goes to voicemail, you can listen to the message as its being recorded and even choose to take the call mistream
access your voicemail from your phone or computer
voicemail messages are also transcribed and sent via email and even text messaging
easily forward voicemail messages
set personalized greetings for specific callers
block unwanted callers
respond to text messages via email (they are sent back as sms automatically)
make calls from any phone using your Google Voice number
place international calls for pennies per minute
setup conference calls

In the words of Google “…less annoyances, and more awesomeness”. For more information about the features noted above, you may find it helpful to view these videos:

Overview

One Number

Personalized Greetings

Voicemail Transcription

Share Voicemails

Text Message to Email

Screen Caller Voicemail

Block Callers

Make Conference Calls

International Calling

Socialite! Access Your Lifestream

Written by Rebecka Anderson July 16th, 2010 No Comments

I often hear from my colleagues, family, and friends that they “don’t have time” to manage their social networking accounts. As a proponent of social media & networking, I dislike hearing this, but the reality is we are all short on time. That said, what tools are available to us that can streamline and automate our lives so that we can remain on top of what’s happening within our own social networks? Enter Socialite.

Socialite is a free desktop application (mac only) that allows you to view and manage your Facebook, Flickr, Digg, and Twitter account(s) through a single window or view, which is commonly know as your “lifestream.” So instead of visiting multiple sites, you open up Socialite and viola! you see what’s happening with all of your social networks. It’s clean minimalist interface makes it simple to manage. For example, you can choose to see what’s happening with all of your accounts as one giant stream of information by clicking “unread”, or you can choose to only read postings from one account by clicking on the account name.

Socialite has maintained the basic features of each application (it even includes profile photos). For example, Socialite allows me to “like” and comment on Facebook postings. Additionally I can post status updates and even add photos. A feature I thought was particularly nice was that I could “tweet” a Facebook posting with 2 clicks of the mouse and no typing!

Another nice feature of Socialite is that it allows you pull in multiple RSS feeds. So instead of visiting multiple websites, you can set Socialite to display your favorite RSS enabled website (indicated by the orange symbol on the right) or blog.

I think it’s also worth noting that if you maintain multiple accounts with any of the services (it’s quite common for people to have multiple Twitter accounts) that you can display them all within Socialite. For example, I initially setup my Socialite account to display 3 Twitter accounts, 1 Facebook account, several blog feeds, and 3 Flickr accounts.

Socialite offers a free version, and for today only (7/15/10), MacHeist is offering it’s ad free version ($30 value) for free. The free version has one ad displayed in the lower left corner, and has the feel of an album cover being displayed within iTunes. I didn’t find it to be an intrusion at all. To get the ad free version you have make a posting on your Facebook page that promotes MacHeist’s newest application, Calcbot.

iPhone Repair Using ifixit.com

Written by Rebecka Anderson July 9th, 2010 No Comments

Is the glass broke on your iPhone leaving you with shards of tiny pieces of glass in your index finger? Well don’t trash that phone yet. As long as the phone functions, you can replace glass using a repair kit from ifixit.com.

I purchased the iPhone3G Front Panel Kit from ifixit.com for $59.96 which includes all of the necessary tools and all parts required to fix your phone. As you can see in the photo below, some of the tools are unusual, but they do the trick in a way that the butter knife from your kitchen drawer can’t. If you are on the fence about whether or not you should buy the full kit, or just the glass, take my advice and buy the kit. It’s doesn’t cost much more, and you’ll have the right tools for the job.

ifixit.com ToolKit

The kit sells for $59.95, and despite the fact that the install difficult level was labeled “difficult,” I actually found the process to be pretty simple. BUT, I must confess, and admit that I watched a video made by a customer repairing their iPhone using the ifixit.com kit. I highly suggest watching this video prior to starting the project on your own. I also suggest having the video available to you as you repair your phone. I found it really helpful to hit play and pause as I experienced different steps of the repair process. In fact, not once did I need to refer to ifixit’s instructions (fyi they link to this video from their site so you can trust the video content).

Before I began the process, I watched a video made by a customer repairing their phone using the kit for the first time. I highly suggest watching this video prior to starting the project on your own.

With the new glass, my phone looks brand new, although the screen is slightly different than the original, so don’t expect an exact replica. The new glass is lighter than the original glass (see below). It’s not really an issue when inside, but when using your phone outside, the screen can appear washed out. To compensate, simply turn the brightness up in system settings.

iPhone (left) With Replacement Glass

In Short

the ifixit.com kit is well worth the $60
it’s not as difficult as they say
watch the video before starting, and during the process
the glass looks a little different

Visible Tweets Promotes iReporter Activity

Written by Rebecka Anderson June 2nd, 2010 No Comments

This is the sixth article in my series on how I was able to capture the backchannel from non-techies.

One tool you can expect to be used to help capture what’s happening at any event is Twitter, and the National Leadership SpecialQuest (NLSQ) was no exception. Unfortunately, most NLSQ particpants were not users of Twitter, and few iReporters had existing accounts. With this in mind I got a little creative, but kept it simple.

While use of Twitter itself is quite basic, to truly understand how it works and how it’s possible to share great info in only 140 characters takes some practice. That said, I only enlisted iReporters to tweet if they had an existing account and some prior experience in using Twitter. To ensure that everyone could view what was being tweeted, I pulled all of the iReporter tweets into the NLSQ blog (iReporters tagged their tweets with #SQ10), which we made available to all participants through an internet cafe we setup for the event. You may want to read “WordPress P2 Theme to Capture Backchannel” for details surrounding how I pulled tweets into the blog.

In addition to displaying tweets through the blog, I also utilized a free web-based tool called “Visible Tweets”, which allows you to display tweets in a fun and visually pleasing manner using Twitter search operators. Instead of simply displaying tweets with Visible Tweets on a computer, it was displayed on (3) 42in flat screen TVs, which were strategically placed in high traffic areas of the event so participants could see tweets as they were happening.

Admittedly, we had hoped to see a higher volume in Tweets from our iReporters so when I noticed tweet volume was low, I became worried. Fortunately, our use of Visible Tweets on the large TVs served us in a way that I hadn’t imagined. Of course, I was hoping to draw attention to tweets being made with the big TVs, but that hope was tied up with the idea of constant “gems of information and aha moments” flowing across the screen. As it turns out, the real value in using Visible Tweets with the large TVs was that it was a constant reminder that this event was being “recorded” by this team of iReporters. In short, it was a buzz generator.

Overall I feel our use of Twitter with Visible Tweets was a success because of the buzz it created; however, in considering all aspects of the iReporting plan, I feel Twitter was an underutilized tool. Stay tuned for my final iReporter posting, which will contain my “hindsight is 20/20 list”, which will include details surrounding what I would do different with regard to using Twitter at a similar type of event.

iReporters Share Their Perspective

Written by Rebecka Anderson May 25th, 2010 No Comments

Prior postings in my series on how I captured the backchannel of an event have been focused on the “how” I did it, and the success of the iReporter role as viewed by myself and other SpecialQuest staff. Today the perspective shifts to what the iReporters thought about their role.

A brief survey was sent to the 22 iReporters and 12 responded. Their responses were overwhelmingly positive and have validated our assumption that the iReporter component of the event was a success from all angles. All but one of the respondents reported that their role as an iReporter enhanced their own experiences as a participant and learner, and they described themselves as being more attentive and reflective throughout the event and more engaged with others.

FULL RESPONSES

Do you feel that your role as an iReporter enhanced your own experiences as a participant/learner at the National Leadership SpecialQuest?

: 12 Respondents

IF you felt your role as an iReporter enhanced your experience as a participant/learner, describe how.

“Being and iReporter made me more reflective of the National Leadership SQ retreat experience as a participant and learner. It also, challenged me to challenge others as we had dialogue on various topics presented. As participant I wanted to gather information to share how others received the topics provided. As a learner I had several Aha moments about myself and my future support role for sustaining the SQ efforts at home.”

“I was forced to engage more with the sessions and content by reflecting on it in a way that I could share it with others. Ordinarily, I might have received the same information, but not applied in such a meaningful way. I also felt like I had a sort of “burden” to share with and support the learning of others by taking on the role. I didn’t want to let anyone down!”

“It gave me the chance to process and review every session in a more thorough way. Having to report back on content and give feedback as the session was happening or after kept me thoroughly engaged at all time. Loved having the ‘Press Pass’ too – great fun learning just like the Head Start motto ‘Play is learning’!”

“1. paid closer attention to the details of the event. 2. felt I took a “bird’s eye view” of the sessions 3. cool goodies for volunteering to be an iReporter”

“It forced me to pay attention more to everything that was happening.”

“Writing about what I was hearing/experiencing made me more reflective about what was happening and how I felt about it at the time. I was also forced to think more quickly about my experience multiple times a day.”

“In helping to document the event, I found that I was more thoughtful in highlighting the salient, notable points.”

“Well, I did try to listen harder and I networked more.”

“Yes, because it made me more engaged in the NLSQ event. The role made me more conscious, deliberate and intentional capturing/recording the camera moments as well as the tagging photos. This was a great “bright” idea. I loved being involved in the techie session as well and think the way the material was packaged as awards totally ROCKED!!!!!”

“Although I didn’t get to tweet much due to tech issues, thinking about tweeting helped structure me so that I could get the meat of the presentation summed up.”

“Being an iReporter enhanced my experiences as a participant in several ways. One, I felt immediately connected to Rebecka and the other iReporters. Second, because I had the responsibility for posting, I was careful to listen to the other participants for unusual quotes or training activities around me. Third, I read the blog more than the average attendee and that was a source of good information as well. I also liked all the nice freebies you gave me.”

WordPress P2 Theme to Capture Backchannel

Written by Rebecka Anderson May 11th, 2010 2 Comments

P2 Theme Customized

My most recent postings have been in reference to an event in which I describe how I captured the backchannel from a “low tech” audience by using a team of iReporters. While the preparation of this iReporting team was important, the technology supporting their work was as well. Using WordPress and the P2 theme, I was able to create a single website that allowed iReporters to share reports through that site, while also displaying the postings made to other social media services. As a firm believer in NOT reinventing the wheel, I’ve outlined how I customized the P2 theme should you decide to create similar site.

WordPress P2 Customization and Plugins

View the Site/Blog

The name of the blog was longer than the header space provided, so I had to adjust the header width in the CSS file.

Using the P2 admin panel I changed the color background, and customized the posting prompt.

Using the widgets that came with the P2 Theme as part of WordPress, I chose to display categories, pages, the tag cloud, recent comments, archives, and text. I used the text widget to add a link to the homepage (top of sidebar), which was not available as a default link through the theme. By adding <h2><a href=”index.php”>Home</a></h2> into the text widget’s text box, the problem was solved.

I added a plugin called Login with Ajax, which added a login box, registration link, and a forgot password link to the side bar (as a widget). I configured the plugin using the admin panel to redirect users to index.php so that soon as someone logged in they were immediately taken to the homepage of the site. Once logged in, the P2 theme displayed a text box for making posts on the homepage. The benefit of this plugin and the P2 theme is that authors were never bounced to an unfriendly admin page for making their posting.

Customizable Search Widget was added because I didn’t like the how the built-in search widget looked (. Customizable Search Widget (as it’s name suggests) gave me some control over how the search box appeared on the sidebar.

In an effort to eliminate potential barriers to iReporters, I registered iReporters ahead of time instead of asking them to do it. In doing so, I added their photos using a plugin called Avatar. I added the avatars to make the site feel more human and friendly. The iReporters also got kick out of seeing their photos appear next to each of their postings. By default the images are added to the root of your web folder, but the admin panel allows you to alter the file path, which means you can manually move your images to an image folder.

To display Tweets made by iReporters and participants, I used the plugin WP-TwitterSearch. I used this plugin because it allowed me to pull Tweets of specific users and our event hashtag. I created a new page and then used the shortcode to call the tweets to the page. I also bumped up the number of tweets to be displayed to 100. Tip: Use Twitters advance searched to help formulate your search query. Here’s an example of how you would display 100 tweets tagged with #ECE, and all tweets from user rebecka7: [wpts terms=#ece OR from:rebecka7 limit=100 lang=en]. Note: Twitter’s search feature only reveals results made within a 5 days of your search. As a result, our history of tweets is no longer available except by visiting the accounts of those users we know were tweeting as iReporters.

To display a featured video from YouTube in the sidebar and within a page, I used the plugin Smart YouTube. Smart YouTube allows you to add videos to a page as either a single video or you can call a playlist. I chose to display videos individually as opposed to a a single player that included a playlist because I wanted people to be able to quickly navigate to a video to watch based upon the titles specified on the page (not embedded within each video). In addition to displaying video on its own page, I used Smart YouTube’s widget to add a featured video to the sidebar. The player is small, but having it there made the page more visually pleasing.

In addition to the small video in the sidebar, I also included thumbnail images from Flicker using flickrRSS for a little eye candy. You can choose to pull in your entire photostream using the admin panel or you can choose to display a set. To add the thumbnails to the side bar use the widget.

I displayed slideshows of Flickr photos on a page that I created, but I didn’t use a WordPress plugin. Instead I used Flickr’s embed code. On Flickr I created multiple photo sets and then grabbed the embed code for each set and pasted in on the page I created.

Tech For Free!

Tips, Resources & Suggestions For Tight Technology Budgets

What Is Jailbreaking & How Can I Do It?

Google Voice, it’s FREE and it’s GREAT!

iPhone Repair Using ifixit.com

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